Heather looked at the overhead like she’d discovered a big spider descending, and rolled her eyes in exasperation.
“I know, I know,” she told Poincaré. “Just asking you directly is not what you would call diplomatic. We should call a conference and send underlings to argue about what shape table we’ll talk around and who sits where. Then after jockeying for status points that don’t mean anything for a couple months we can all sit around with mineral water and note pads in front of us mouthing lies for the cameras to report back home, and make some agreement full of symbolism neither intends to keep. I don’t have time for that crap.”
“You may mock it, but diplomacy has worked for hundreds of years. Without it Europe would have by now repeated the cycles of war we saw in World War One and Two. It’s what nations do instead of shooting at each other.”
“You stopped playing the game when it got so rough there weren’t any real winners,” Heather said. “I can’t blame you for that. The fact you are calling says you want something. I offered not to call you a liar in public if you claimed to have been the first to another star. Obviously that’s not enough. Why don’t we speed things along? Tell me what.”
“The nature of the secret is so large, experience says it will out eventually, even with your cooperation. Especially when we keep sending research ships out, which we intend to do. Chances are it can’t be held secret for the life-time of the people involved. Probably not even until the end of their careers. It’s of a scale that would be damaging to them and their governments when it breaks. It is a complication that the pilot of our mission resigned on his return and wants nothing to do with staying in the program or receiving a hero’s welcome. People will ask why. You don’t have the resources of Earth. No matter how far ahead of us you are, once Earth’s billions have a program to explore the stars we’ll surpass you. Why not work with us rather than compete?”
“That’s what you want? It’s an offer to partner with you? Is that just with France and her allies or have you assembled a coalition of space capable Earth governments? Are you sure you don’t have some threats of a stick to go with the nice carrot?” Heather asked.
The flicker of emotion on Poincaré’s face betrayed him.
“The normal course of action is to refrain from threats if a reasonable accommodation can be arrived at first, but since you ask, France wishes to inform you that they will reject your claims upon the object in the Alpha Centauri system which you have designated as ‘Bright’. It would be much better if we supported each other in our claims rather than carry our own contests and interests beyond the Solar System. But if you aren’t with us on this you are against us.”
“You said us instead of them,” Heather pointed out. “Just to be clear, are you conveying a message for France, or are you speaking for Marseille? Do you intend to contest with us over territorial matters out there, or here on the Moon?”
Poincaré looked scared, as well he should.
“I was not sufficiently precise. We are friends and allies of France, but we have not entered into a suicide pact with them. Marseille has neither the means nor the desire to contest your territory nor your right to exist.”
“I’m glad to hear that. Since what I’m about to say is for you to pass on to France rather than applying to you, I’ll tailor it with even more than the usual economy of expression. They weren’t asked to approve our claims. If they want to propose some rational clearing house for registering territorial claims we might voluntarily use it. But a sovereign nation doesn’t accept limits on their actions short of agreement or having them imposed.
“France has offered us nothing of value to come to any agreement with them. If they want to impose a limit on us in regard to Bright or any other claim, they are invited to demonstrate their ability to impose it. Would you convey that?”
“I will. I’ll pass on a recording of our conversation so they get the exact words and the tone of the reply,” Poincaré promised.
“Good day to you then,” Heather said, trying to avoid a rude cut off.
When the screen was blank again, she didn’t restore the news feeds, what did that really matter now?
Chapter 29
“We understand your hesitancy, and respect your principles, but would you consent to do a very minimalist news conference if we very specifically do not say your mission was a first, just that is was a great accomplishment and successful in every way?”
“I’m retired,” Bellinger replied, flatly. “I have no desire to speak for you in any capacity. I don’t believe for a moment you didn’t know our mission was not a first, or that you didn’t deceive me, and intend to deceive the public thoroughly. I’m not going to be a party to that. Just in case you think I’m an inconvenience to sweep under the rug and decide to ‘disappear’ me, be aware I’ve prepared statements to be released revealing the whole sordid mess. I’m not stupid and I’ve planted them out there with mechanisms and people who you can research to no end, because they were never connected with me. I don’t know how long you think you can hide this, but if you want the inconvenience of having it published tomorrow, just arrest me and see if it isn’t true. Unless you exile me here in Marseille, I’m going to retire to the Côte d'Azur-Corse, take up painting again, and raise orchids. If you have any brains at all you will forget you ever knew me.”
* * *
“What are the odds?” Jeff asked, with a sick look on his face.
“I’m so sorry,” April said. “We should never have left a claims marker so close to Earth. If we’d just waited until we got to more distant stars it might have been years before they got out far enough to find one.”
“If you wanted to check, I believe it was my idea to send a marker radio with the Centauri mission. I think that kind of blame game is a part of Earth Think we still haven’t shed entirely. If, as I remember, it was my idea, neither did you two object. There’s always enough blame for everybody to get a bite,” Heather said.
“Poincaré, and all of his sort are despicable, but he’s right that we are amateurs still learning at governance,” Jeff said.
“I’m less upset the more I think on it,” Heather said. “We knew they would catch up and find us out there eventually. Now we have to deal with their reactions and bluster. The fact remains they can’t do anything about us. If they want to spend a great deal of energy and treasure denying us the use of Bright it will serve them right. It was the only thing in the system Deloris thought worth expending a radio marker to claim. They may mistake it for something vital to us. Some governments will go to great lengths to protect their claims to one hill or otherwise useless island. I’d let them have their empty gesture and move on until they contest something worth fighting for if it comes to that. They better not get confident and think no such line exists.”
“It may change what resources they commit, and make them work to progress faster, but otherwise I agree with what you are saying,” April agreed.
Heather nodded gravely. “Nothing basic is changed. We shall make our changes to the Hringhorni as we planned. When we have some idea what’s out there we’ll build a specialized ship to actually land and start getting some return from the resources we find. If we don’t do something stupid, I believe we can stay ahead of the curve and have more ships and range further than the Earthies for a long time. They are divided, and not just competing with us, but with each other. You didn’t hear Mssr. Poincaré proposing a grand alliance of Earthie nations. He was still just speaking for France, and wouldn’t even commit to them as their ally against us.”
Jeff got an intense look on his face, and then slowly smiled.
“And what evil thought are you entertaining behind that grin?” April asked.
“They got so upset over finding us out there,” Jeff said. “They rejected Adam’s intelligence about the Martians unheard. So I don’t think they know yet that there are aliens out there. I’m certain that’s another thing we can agree is bound to happen, if not when. I don’t think it will be t
he great disaster the Martians envision, and I know I’m an awful person, but picture how they will all run in circles screaming when that news finally hits them.”
That left all three of them smiling. But then Heather looked grim.
“As amusing as that might be, I think the Martians missed the bigger danger. The more important question is likely, how are the aliens going to react to them? It would be nice to see them display some maturity in dealing with each other before they have to deal with something truly alien that they won’t be able to understand. Especially if those aliens have superior tech. They may be around many stars and have superior numbers too.”
“To some degree, that will be out of our control once they refine this tech they just proved works and make it more practical,” Jeff said. “We can try, but we can only retard their ability to leave the Solar System so much. They will fight us if we try to keep them bottled up. We can continue to skim off the cream of Earth’s billions to make a separate society, the frontier has always selected for those who wanted to leave the status quo for something better. But I have no hope we can influence the bulk of them to change their basic nature. We are too few, the problems run to deep, and we don’t have near enough time to accomplish much.
“If we do have to deal with aliens, we need to be able to convince them not all humans are alike. If things continue as they are, it will at least be obvious we have different star drives. That will be one of the first things they’ll see meeting us, and we need to be able to build on that so they see we are different other ways.”
April nodded agreement. “We want to get out there, far away from the Earth mob anyway. That’s just another reason to go out deep as soon as we can, so we get to meet and greet these aliens before they meet our crazy relatives.”
The End
The Last Part : Books and Links by Mackey Chandler
April (first in this series)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0077EOE2C
April is an exceptional young lady and something of a snoop. She finds herself involved with intrigues that stretch her abilities after a chance run in with a spy. There is a terrible danger she and her friends and family will lose the only home she has ever known in orbit and be forced to live on the slum ball below. It's more than a teen should have to deal with. Fortunately she has a lot of smart friends and allies. It's a good thing because things get very rough and dicey.
Family Law – The series after April
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006GQSZVS
You know people who love their dogs. They put them in their will. They forgo vacations to stay home and take care of them.
Can a dog love back or is it simple self interest? Affection or love? Unconditional or a meal-ticket? What if you dog could talk back? Would your dog be less lovable if he could tell you what he thinks like your spouse? If he complained his kibbles were dry and boring would your affection wear thin? I don't want to touch on what a cat might tell you...
Is the dog part of your family or property? Who should decide that for you? How much more complicated will it be if we meet really intelligent species not human?
Humans don't have a very good history of defending the interests of others. Even variations of their own species. How will they treat 'people' in feathers or fur? Perhaps a more difficult question is: How will they treat us? Usually the people who answer these sort of questions have no desire to be on the pointy end of things. They are just minding their own business and it is thrust upon them. This story explores those questions
Link to full list of current releases on Amazon:
Stand alone books, shorts and collections of shorts.
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B004RZUOS2
Mac's Writing Blog:
http://www.mackeychandler.com
Been There, Done That (April Book 10) Page 41